Quote :

"Definition of Acceleration. * One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first 4 rows of NASCARS at the Daytona 500. * Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced. * A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the dragster's supercharger. * With 3,000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle. * At the stoichiometric (stoichiometry: methodology and technology by which quantities of reactants and products in chemical reactions are determined) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro methane, the flame front temperature measures 7,050 deg F. * Nitro methane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases. * Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder. * Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After halfway, the engine is dieseling from compression, plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1,400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow. * If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half. * In order to exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds, dragsters must accelerate an average of over 4G's. In order to reach 200 mph (well before half-track), the launch acceleration approaches 8G's. * Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed reading this sentence. * Top Fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light! * Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load. * The redline is actually quite high at 9,500 rpm. * Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated $1,000.00 per second. * The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.441 seconds for the quarter mile (10/05/03, Tony Schumacher). The top speed record is 333.00 mph. (533 km/h) as measured over the last 66' of the run (09/28/03 Doug Kalitta). -------------------------------------- Putting all of this into perspective: -------------------------------------- You are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter „twin-turbo” powered Corvette Z06. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged and ready to launch down a quarter mile strip as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line and past the dragster at an honest 200 mph. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment. The dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your foot down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums and within 3 seconds, the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quarter mile away from where you just passed him. Think about it, from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 mph and not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1,320 foot long race course."

1/26/2006 8:12:22 PM

Quote :

"* Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed reading this sentence."

if it takes you 4 seconds to read that... well... stay in school.

1/26/2006 8:16:38 PM

1/26/2006 9:13:11 PM

Quote :

"7500 Approximate peak output, in horsepower, of a competitive 2005 Top Fuel engine. That's almost 1000 horsepower per cylinder. 500 Engine capacity, in cubic inches. The block and heads are CNC-milled from solid billets of aluminum, and the oil pan is titanium. 45.5 Maximum boost, in psi, produced by the supercharger at wide-open throttle. That's more than 3.0 bar, twice the boost achieved by a Mitsubishi Evo VIII. advertisement 12,654 Rpm the supercharger spins at maximum engine speed. With the engine at 8500 rpm, just turning the supercharger soaks up 900 horsepower. 165 Temperature in Fahrenheit of the 14-71-type supercharger after just 4.5 seconds of maximum boost. 569 Number of times the engine's crankshaft turns during the entire quarter mile. Each intake valve opens 284 times. 16 Spark plugs per engine. The twin MSD magnetos produce 88 amps. You need just 12 more to power your MIG welder. 77 Gallons per minute the fuel system can pump at wide-open throttle. The engine will consume 22.75 gallons of fuel during warmup, burnout, staging, and the quarter-mile run. 900 Cost, in dollars, of a 55-gallon drum of nitromethane fuel. Current regulations allow a maximum of 85 percent nitromethane in the fuel mix. The rest is alcohol. 58,700 About what you'll pay, in dollars, for a new, ready-to-run Top Fuel engine. 29 Minutes it takes to tear down and rebuild a Top Fuel engine between rounds. Each engine is rebuilt 184 times a year (if the driver goes to the final round at every race). 28 Quarts of oil used during warm-up and quarter-mile run. The oil pan holds 70-weight oil mixed with special thickener. 6 The maximum number of clutch discs in a Top Fuel car. The multistage clutch is timed to progressively lock up during the run. Each $115 disc lasts a maximum of three runs. "

1/26/2006 9:21:16 PM

Quote :

"With 3,000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle."

that's insane

1/27/2006 10:07:06 AM

Well, you gotta figure that stoichiometric ratio for nitromethane is around 1.7 to 1, as compared to 14.7 to 1 for gasoline.

1/27/2006 10:10:57 AM

wait

did they just say "rows of NASCARS"

?

1/27/2006 11:21:59 AM

ITS STOCK CARS THE NEXT TIME I HEAR A STOCK CAR REFERRED TO AS A 'NASCAR' I WILL KILL SOMEBODY DAMNIT

seriously though I just can't watch a car launch into a straight line. I'd rather watch jets launch off of carriers.

But I've never been to a drag race in person. probably exciting compared to watching on TV

1/28/2006 8:50:43 PM

If you get pounded by the sound of a top fueler launching off the line, you might change your tune.

Makes me jizz in my britches.

1/28/2006 8:55:36 PM

not so much

1/28/2006 8:55:50 PM

id rather watch racing/events with loosely enforced rules and regulations... that way someone will be a badass and blow the doors off the others

1/28/2006 8:56:47 PM

like i said i've never seen it in person, it has to be loud a hell and shake the earth

1/28/2006 9:19:53 PM

you can feel them practicing in the parking lot....the ground shakes for a good ways away from the track... its amazing something that small can hold that much power.


i like to walk past one running in the pitts and kill 1/2 my brain in 1 breath.
+ i think its pretty cool how the tires are sorta like a transmission getting taller due to the centripital force as they go down the track (yes i know they have a bunch of clutches too)

and i've seen the clutches after 1 run... those things melted together... it was awesome.

ohh by the way... there is more than one type of stock car or nascar they should be refered to as nextel cup cars.


[Edited on January 28, 2006 at 9:44 PM. Reason : or sprint or whatever the fuck they are.]

1/28/2006 9:43:18 PM